Nisei Week
/niːˈseɪ wiːk/noun
An annual Japanese American cultural festival held primarily in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo.
Did you know?Nisei Week began in Los Angeles in 1934 as a celebration of Japanese American culture and resilience, decades before its community endured wartime incarceration.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Chinese
Old Chinese
二世
“Second generation or second world; the characters later supplied the Japanese term.”
Classical Japanese
Japanese
二世 (nisei)
“The second generation, especially a child born in Japan to parents of an earlier generation.”
Early 20th Century
Japanese American English
Nisei
“A person of Japanese ancestry born in the United States to immigrant Japanese parents.”
1934
English
Nisei Week
“The first Nisei Week festival was held in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo to celebrate Japanese American culture and community.”
1942–1945
English
Nisei Week
“The festival was disrupted during World War II, when Japanese Americans were forcibly removed and incarcerated by the U.S. government.”
Modern English
English
Nisei Week
“An annual cultural festival featuring Japanese American arts, food, performances, traditions, and community events.”